Sir Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott has a huge list of production under his belt as can be seen from the link. He has produced and directed many big budget films including, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, etc. His newest movie that is coming out this year is American Gangster, which is about a drug lord that smuggles heroin into Harlem during the 70's hiding the stashes inside the coffins of American soldiers' coffins, returning from Vietnam.

Gladiator's Commodus vs. the actual Commodus

The movie Gladiator, for those who have never seen it, is about a very respected general of the Roman Empire who is exiled by the new ruler Commodus. The general is captured and sold as a slave. He finds himself soon fighting in arenas as a gladiator against other men and animals. Eventually he fights Commodus in the arena and kills him.




Commodus was a real emperor of Rome. His full name and title is Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus. He was a very brutal ruler who had many senators killed after an attempt on his life and ordered the execution of his chief advisor to please the army, and the successor was killed in a riot. He started to lose his mind and pretended that he was Hercules entering the Colosseum to fight gladiators and animals. On December 31, 192 AD, his advisors had him strangled by a champion wrestler.

GLADIATOR AND THE MYTHS OF ROME.

This article covers the relation between the fall of the Roman Empire as portrayed in the film Gladiator. Wiseman (the author) claims that although the movie is not historically accurate, it is true to the Roman myths. Maximus is like the Roman heroes of the ancient world that inspired citizens of the empire to be honorable and lead good lives.